School not letting my child from the school

[Kutika]

I have read numerous discussions where people mention that schools cannot legally prevent a child from leaving, yet I find myself in this exact situation. The school is refusing to allow my child to leave, despite my clear instructions. I've sent an email, filed a complaint with the trust, and even contacted the police, but to my surprise, none of these actions have resolved the issue. I was told by the head teacher that the law does not apply to them. Any ideas on who to contact?

If you can’t name the law they’ve broken and explain how their actions satisfy the elements of whichever offence you think it is, it clearly isn’t “simple”.

Them not having broken a law doesn’t mean they have the authority to do what they are trying to do, though. So they won’t be able to use the power of the state to enforce their policy. They won’t be able to get a court to enforce their ASC charges as debt against OP. SS aren’t going to investigate OP for not turning up to pick up her perfectly-capable-of-walking-home-child. Etc. If OP doesn’t comply with their wishes they’re stuck.

So it's not safe for my pre-pubescent summer-born 11yo child to walk out of his secondary school alone.

is this meant to be sarcasm? I don’t get it? Your child who hasn’t even hit puberty and is young in their year? no I don’t think they’re safe to walk about by themselves. I don’t think that they can handle themselves in an emergency.

but if YOU do then ok that’s fine. They are YOUR child. But clearly in OP’s case, they don’t think the kids are old enough so the op needs to accept that. Not be calling the police ffs. I mean what’s she even saying? “My kid’s school is concerned they get home safely so won’t let young children walk home by themselves?” God what an awful person this head teacher must be?!!

literally what did the op do up until now? How did they manage to collect them?

"So it's not safe for my pre-pubescent summer-born 11yo child to walk out of his secondary school alone"

To be fair I recall Jenny harries saying kids are more likely to be hit be a bus walking to and from school than catching COVID there and we all know plenty of kids catch COVID at school so It's not entirely risk free....

I might be able to do that, but having read about plenty of work situations and managers, I may be one of the lucky ones.

So other people can decide for their child but OP can't?. She doesn't have to accept it because the school have no authority to overrule her. OP previously used the afterschool club because she can't collect at that time. That costs money and her daughter would probably prefer to be at home than the after school club too.

Sorry to say it twice but it isn't age. The OPs child is 9 years and 11 months old, next April the school will be letting other children out who are aged between 9 years 10 months and 9 years 7 months. It would make more sense if they said children need to be 10 before they can walk home alone which would mean August born children couldn't walk home alone until year 6.

Hmmm. Given the route to walk to his primary school isn't suitable for a bus to go down, I'm kinda fine with the risk profile of the chances of him getting hit by a bus walking to school.

Neither is getting in a car or walking to school with a parent. There is absolutely nothing in life that is risk free. Even if you make the decision to spend your entire life at home, you could still be injured in a house fire and will be at high risk of depression and obesity, on top of having wasted your life.

It's certainly not risk-free to limit your child's independence as they get older; the risks of doing so are well documented.

Safe and "risk-free" don't mean the same thing, otherwise we wouldn't consider anything safe.

Well done to the school. They're taking the safety and well being of your child seriously and should be applauded. It's a shame your work comes before your child's safety.

Silly comment. The child is 9 and walking 300m unattended by an adult.

Really??!?! The child is 9 and not walking far at all.

😂😂😂😂

I did name the law. Truly truly bizarre contortions here 🤦🏻‍♀️.

Social services are highly unlikely to get involved in the Unsolicited goods and services Act. Which just means that they can’t charge the OP for after school club. The school are breaking that law if they charge her for it.

Its truly like having a conversation with AI.

People on here will literally argue black is white.

The school are quite clearly in the wrong, but there is an odd mumsnet mentality that won’t challenge any authority at all,

Quite clearly it isn’t a safeguarding problem over and above normal daily risk that we all take.

You named a law that doesn’t cover childcare and which, even if it did, requires criminal intent for the law to have been broken. Which section of the unsolicited goods and services act did you think applied here? (Hint - given that it only covers goods, directory entries, extended contracts and sexual publications, you’re going to have a hard time finding one).

That you are ignorant about the law and how it applies and can’t (or refuse to) follow or construct a cohesive argument does not mean that my responses are created by a computer.

Why does an adult at home matter especially? It might be that the older siblings and adults all arrive within an hour or so of that time. A child of that age who has demonstrated good sense is fine alone in their home for such short periods. I don't see the issue.

They could try to take OP to court for unpaid ASC fees but find they have no grounds.

Then they stop placing child in ASC without parental agreement.

The child walks home happily ever after.

Yes.

I think this is likely the most cost effective approach for OP. Just refuse to pay and wait. I suspect they’d wouldn’t go as far as issuing court proceedings, though.

Parents would have to fund court costs. Who then foots the bill for these costs if school found to have no grounds to charge. Which is why the school won't take to court because they won't want that coming back at them.

Some people are a bit bonkers. It's a cult of risk aversion. Blanket rules for all seems to be a comforting notion for a lot of people. Including, it seems, some head teachers.

Thank you for your posts.

If the school is trying to extract fees for ASC from the parents, then the school would need to pay court fees. Even if the courts would hear it.

Same as any other plaintiff. Surely?

Only if a court finds in plaintiff's favour would they then consider adding costs.

What would happen in this situation if the child were to simply... walk out at the same time everyone else is leaving.

Assuming kids still leave by meeting parents in the yard or at the gates so doors and gates are unlocked - they can't physically restrain the child can they?

Not that I am suggesting telling the kid to just walk out, thats a level of confrontation no kid needs... just wondering!

Physical restraint would be assault, so I would think the school would avoid that. They’d probably call the parents to let them know their child had gone “missing” and whatever else there policy called for. I suppose, since they have a rule against children leaving without parents, they might have some sort of discipline for infractions of that rule. Break time detention or something?

Do you know, I very, very much doubt the Head has said ‘the law does not apply to us’? As if the Academy is some kind of rule free zone.

What? And leave the poor child awkwardly knowing she’s an inconvenience until something eventually gets sorted?! Poor advice, don’t do this. Also, unless you are going to move her to a different school try not to totally sour your relationship with the school, you never know when you actually might need their support.

It might be the policy that April the evenings are lighter, or it might be when she turns 10?
Either way, YOU need to have a plan in place- she’s your child. Get someone to pick her up or pay for the club until April.
(why on earth would you waste police time with this?!)

Sorry to be brutal, but this is how it seems to me.

I wonder how the school would react if you allowed your child to walk to school on their own. The risk is the same but what would they do (if they ever knew)